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1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.170371303Eyes on Xfinity: Sam Hunt Racing at Crossroads with Coronavirus Outbreakhttps://www.frontstretch.com/2020/03/25/eyes-on-xfinity-sam-hunt-racing-at-crossroads-with-coronavirus-outbreak/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=eyes-on-xfinity-sam-hunt-racing-at-crossroads-with-coronavirus-outbreak
Thu, 26 Mar 2020 01:24:04 +0000https://www.frontstretch.com/?p=228434Entering the 2020 NASCAR season, Sam Hunt Racing planned to make its next step as a young race team, moving up to the Xfinity Series to run upward of 10 races, primarily via crowdfunding. However, the current COVID-19 pandemic has forced the team owner’s hand, temporarily shutting down shop. Hunt, 26, has driven in 34 …

Entering the 2020 NASCAR season, Sam Hunt Racing planned to make its next step as a young race team, moving up to the Xfinity Series to run upward of 10 races, primarily via crowdfunding.

However, the current COVID-19 pandemic has forced the team owner’s hand, temporarily shutting down shop.

Hunt, 26, has driven in 34 K&N Pro Series East races over the span of seven years, with a best finish of sixth at Greenville-Pickens Speedway. While competing in a trio of races for his own team, Hunt has relied primarily on up-and-comer Colin Garrett, 19, who ran in 22 of 26 K&N East races over the past two seasons with 11 top-10 finishes.

Garrett made his Xfinity debut in 2019 at Richmond Raceway for MBM Motorsports, finishing 26th. That race licensed him for the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway with Sam Hunt Racing, where the team qualified 15th and finished 21st, respectively.

Over the offseason, all hands were on deck, hoping to qualify for the season opener at Daytona, though the No. 26 team didn’t receive its superspeedway car until mid-December. Unfortunately, Garrett narrowly missed the show – by one-hundredth of a second – as 40 cars showed up to qualify. Because the Sam Hunt team missed the race, it received no purse money, which is primarily how the team operates.

“It was pretty tough,” Hunt recently told Frontstretch of missing Daytona. “Homestead went so smooth in November and building that Daytona car which was an older Gibbs car, but still we put a decent amount of time and money into it.

“At the same time I think it’s taught me a lot, and as hard as the past month was, I dug myself out of it. We’re sitting here ready to go to Homestead and Bristol [Motor Speedway] with good funding and I think everybody took that DNQ as a team.”

As Hunt noted, the team’s next scheduled race was last weekend at Homestead, for which the team had already spent a chunk of money on parts, pieces and entry fees, all of which the team cannot get back. But with the recent coronavirus outbreak, NASCAR announced last week it has suspended the season through the first weekend of May, scheduled to pick action back up at Martinsville Speedway on May 8-9.

Meanwhile, the Xfinity Series’ next scheduled race isn’t until Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 23, meaning 11 weeks would have passed since last racing at Phoenix Raceway. Because of this break, Hunt needed to temporarily shut down his team as there is no cash flow going through the Mooresville, N.C. shop.

“It definitely hurts us,” Hunt said. “After the announcement I had to tell the guys just to go home for this week, and we had to officially close down because we don’t have the budget to have payroll going for eight weeks and no income coming in.

“There was an aspect legally on my end that I needed to protect myself right now. If one of my guys is working in the shop during official work hours and he gets sick, goes home and his grandpa gets it and his grandpa passes from it, there’s ways that can be dragged back to me.

“It might seem silly because we only have a few guys and we don’t have much,” Hunt continued, “but from a business sense it was a no-brainer to cover ourselves.”

The team currently works with just three chassis with two full-time employees: longtime NASCAR driver/crew chief Brian Keselowski and Connor Mediros. During the week, a pair of “younger guys” will come in for three days of work, while two more volunteer their time from the NASCAR Technical Institute.

Since the team has temporarily shut down, payroll has been halted for the most part, though in a team meeting on Sunday (March 22), Hunt notified the team that he was able to gather up part-time work for everyone, paying them a little bit. Nevertheless, Keselowski is in a precarious situation.

“That’s true, unfortunately,” Keselowski said. “Sam is working on some stuff to at least do some part-time [work] here on out. He’s been straight up with me and I know right where he’s at because I’ve been in the owner’s deal, too.

“I appreciate that he’s been straight up with me and said, ‘Hey, we can’t do anything for racing right now.’ I totally understand that.”

With no on-track action for at least two months, Keselowski says this hiatus is like a second offseason and there is work to be done. Because of that, it makes for a “sticky situation” as the team has recently moved into the Mooresville shop with infrastructure that needs to be done as well as the potential of adding three chassis to its stable.

“My goal right now is figuring out how we can continue to work even without racing for a long time, which is near impossible,” Hunt stated. “I think if everyone is willing, myself included, whether it be a 50% pay cut or work three days a week or be creative about how we do it because obviously there’s a lot I would love to do with eight weeks as far as building cars and making cars better. At the same time, with absolutely no income coming in, it makes it almost impossible to do.”

But that’s a double-edged sword because the team makes money solely by competing on the racetrack.

“Sam makes money by putting cars on the racetrack,” Keselowski said. “That’s how we make money so we can afford to pay the employees that are working there. Without having cars on the racetrack, how do you come up with the kind of money that it takes to do it?”

Should the series resume racing Memorial Day Weekend – or potentially makeup a race or two between Martinsville and Charlotte (two weeks in between) – everything is going to move very rapidly once the shutdown is lifted. That reason alone makes it more difficult for Hunt’s race team because the equipment needs to be ready for race condition.

“It’s going to be extremely difficult because once we do go back racing, if we can come up with enough deals to go to the racetrack, we’ve got to have equipment that’s ready to go to the racetrack, too, and that doesn’t just happen,” Keselowski stated. “I can’t say I’m not worried about it, but we’ll make things happen when it’s time to make it happen.”

As for Garrett, he’s missing valuable track time during these two months. The last time he competed in a race was at New Smyrna Speedway where he finished 14th in a Super Late Model event, the same night he failed to qualify for Daytona.

“It definitely affects me because it’s track time, especially at a big track like that,” Garrett said. “I need as much as I can get. Homestead is a little different, obviously, because it’s so technical, wore out and everything. You don’t really go to a track that’s like that throughout the year.

Garrett confirmed he was also scheduled to race for Niece Motorsports in the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series at Homestead. He’s hoping to add the Rattler 250 to his schedule since that, too, needed to be rescheduled from its March 22 date.

Regardless of what races he runs in the future, Garrett isn’t sure how he’ll make an income during this time away from racing.

“It was supposed to be by running Homestead,” Garrett stated. “Not really anything, everything is pretty much closed down. We’ve all pulled back and doing what little we can at the shop, but no income is coming from that. We’ll have to find some odd jobs, cut some grass or something. It’s going to be tough here for a little bit.”

Since the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are uncertain of how long this outbreak will last, it leads to a lot of uncertainty for many race teams, specifically smaller teams.

Tommy Joe Martins confirmed to the Frontstretch Podcast last week that he had to lay off 80% of his employees. At the Cup Series level, it is believed teams like StarCom Racing and others have temporarily laid employees off, hoping to bring them back when the season resumes.

Even though he hasn’t laid anybody off, the conversations of shutting down temporarily is unsettling for Hunt.

“I don’t pay myself much, I put everything into making the company better,” he said. “I think it’s tougher for me knowing that those guys are going to be struggling a little bit because I can survive. It’s not good by any means, but we’ll be OK. I think it’s just guys that buy into the program and want to see their work, so not being able to take care of them for a little bit is kind of sickening, honestly.”

While also worried, Keselowski says his biggest fear is if racing gets halted past its scheduled return date.

“It’s concerning to me that May might not actually be the time and it’s actually going to be longer than that,” he said. “It’s just getting a flow of when we can race again and just getting an idea of what’s happening because right now everybody has no idea of what’s going on. It’s definitely concerning that it might be longer than May.”

But whether the team will fold is uncertain, and Hunt admits, is “very scary.”

Hunt said: “I think we’re all worried. Sometimes to a fault, I’m an optimistic person and I told all my guys that I’m going to take care of them. No matter how this plays out I’m not going to let any of them starve, nobody is going to go broke. I have my avenues to where I can keep these guys above water.”

The driver/crew chief dynamic is one of the key components of being successful in NASCAR. This weekend at Chicagoland Speedway marks the one-year anniversary of Brian Keselowski calling the shots for MBM Motorsports driver Chad Finchum.

Keselowski, 37, older brother to Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Brad Keselowski, has 67 NASCAR national touring starts. The most notable coming in 2011 at the Daytona 500, when his younger brother pushed him to fifth-place in their respective Duel race. But much to his own chagrin, he traded in his firesuit for a headset to lead underfunded teams primarily in 2017.

When driving together — 27 races — the Keselowski and Finchum pairing have a best outing of 14th which happened last July at Daytona International Speedway. Despite their success and trying times, it’s been a process to make it work.

“I’ve seen an improvement in Chad [as a driver], which helps a lot,” Keselowski recently told Frontstretch. “As a crew chief, you can only do so much. You can’t drive it, too. He’s really not torn up a lot of equipment, which helps a lot, and we can just keep getting better instead of trying to fix stuff.”

Being a former driver, Keselowski can put himself in certain situations when Finchum is driving. Admittedly, the two use the “1-10 scale” on describing if the car is too loose or too tight, which is common for many teams.

In present day NASCAR, there aren’t many crew chiefs that have been former drivers. People like Paul Wolfe (16 Xfinity starts) come to mind, who leads the No. 2 Team Penske car for the younger Keselowski brother. Back 16 years ago, Robbie Reiser (32 national touring starts) was atop the pit box for Matt Kenseth when he won the 2003 Cup championship.

Because Keselowski and Finchum are both racers — both drivers believe it gives them a slight advantage on the competition, though the team still has to balance a budget at MBM.

“I feel like it, yeah,” Keselowski said of having an advantage. “Just knowing when a driver says, ‘Hey, this thing is kind of tight but jumps sideways loose,’ And it’s like ‘Ok, is it too tight because you’re too tight, you put a lot of wheel into and it jumps sideways, or is it too tight and jumps sideways because of something else.’ As a driver, I can relate to that and have a good idea on where it needs to go to fix it.”

Finchum’s take is similar.

“He understands what I feel and what I like in the car,” Finchum stated. “It’s even to the point now where when he’s setting the cars up at the shop and we go unload for the first practice, he’ll say, ‘Here’s what we did, and here’s what we need to do, but this is the way I know you like to drive so we’re going to change this and change that.’ I think that is so key.”

Prior to Keselowski coming on board at Chicago last year, Finchum had five crew chief changes in the opening 15 races of the season — one race in which he failed to qualify at Charlotte Motor Speedway. That was “tough” for the then-rookie driver. But since the two have aligned, it’s been a good relationship on and off the track, as the two often talk football or sit down for a game of Madden.

“I think you have to be able to have a relationship with your co-workers away from the racetrack,” Finchum stated. “I think you have to have a personal side with them and enjoy the activities that you’re going to do … It’s having fun, being light-hearted, light-spirited and I think it allows people to speak freely and tell each other their feelings without them getting stepped on or hurt.”

“We talk a lot about at the track just for something to talk about besides just racing all the time,” Keselowski noted. “It gets a little bit boring if all you talk about are race cars every day of the week. It kind of works out, and I think it’s a good relationship too.”

Prior to matching up for Carl Long‘s team in 2018, the two sides didn’t know much about each other. Keselowski originally went to MBM wanting to race again. However, he knew of Finchum because he crew chiefed in the CARS Tour for Stefan Parsons in 2016. At that time, Finchum was competing in that series as well.

“Honestly, if he came up and smacked me in the face, I would have never of known who he was,” Keselowski said of Finchum. “I knew of the name and knew he’d won races in Tennessee and did a lot of stuff that was really good, but I never raced against him, so I didn’t know a whole lot about the guy.”

Prior to Chicago, the two had never met in person — not even at the race shop — as Keselowski was hired by MBM the week of the event.

“As soon as I got into the garage, I walked up to the hauler, put my bag up there, walked out to the car and I went and met him and said, ‘Hey Brian, I’m Chad Finchum. I’m your driver,’” Finchum said. “We kicked it off right there and had a solid relationship.”

Over the past year, Finchum has steadily improved, going from a rookie driver to a sophomore in the Xfinity Series. Currently, he sits 27th in points, six points behind MBM teammate Joey Gase and three points ahead of teammate Timmy Hill.

In 13 starts this year, Finchum has an average finish of 27.6, more than 1.5 positions better than last year. The duo has nine DNFs together, though only two have them have been because of an incident (Bristol Motor Speedway last August, Pocono Raceway earlier this month). The others have been either mechanical or a start-and-park.

Despite their close-knit relationship, there have been some challenges along the way, but a lot of it is out of their control.

“It’s mostly budgetary constraints,” Keselowski said. “Not affording to buy the stuff that you want or need to go faster. It’s not like you can change that. I think we’ve handled that somewhat decently. Sometimes, things jump up and bite you that you wish you didn’t have bite you, but for the most part, we’ve done a pretty good job with it.”

Finchum echoes Keselowski, not believing there has been a real challenge between the driver-to-driver, now driver-to-crew chief relationship. Though he could see a potential clash in driving styles should the team go to a track where both sides think their way is the fastest way to get around, Finchum noted that hasn’t happened yet.

As the season progresses, Finchum’s primary goal is to improve at every racetrack and finish inside the top 30 in the championship standings.

“All of the tracks that we run two times a year, when we run there in the spring, whatever finish it is, when we come back later in the year, I want to beat that,” Finchum said. “I think that’s always the mentality and an uplifting thing to think about. If you can do better when you go back, you’ve made gains and showed improvement.”

Meanwhile, Keselowski’s goal is similar to Finchum’s: improve as a crew chief and help MBM grow, as he’s signed on for the full season. There will be times that he’s pulling double duty between the Cup and Xfinity races as a crew chief, doing so six times already in 2019. He’s crew chiefed seven total Cup races (no Xfinity race at Kansas Speedway in May) for MBM Motorsports.

“I’ve actually been pleased with how we’ve ran, I’m just not pleased with how we’ve finished,” Keselowski added. “If we can get our finishes to match where we’re capable of running we’ll be in pretty good shape.”

Overall, it’s been a successful first year, taking baby steps before you can walk.

“I’m glad Brian’s been on board with us for a year,” Finchum said.” I think the future for MBM Motorsports is good. I think the future for Brian Keselowski and myself is good. I think there’s a really good foundation.”

Xfinity Notes

The Xfinity Series heads to Chicagoland Speedway this weekend for the Camping World 300. There are 41 cars on the preliminary entry list, meaning three will go home. Joey Logano will be making his first start of the season in the No. 12 Ford for Team Penske.

Jeffrey Earnhardt will be driving the “Salute to Service” No. 81 car for Xtreme Concepts Racing at Chicago. It will be the team’s second start of the season (finished eighth in its debut race at Texas Motor Speedway) and first time partnering with Comcast NBCUniversal, saluting the military.

Hatori Racing Enterprises confirmed it will be reentering the series at Daytona next weekend in the No. 61 Toyota. Truck Series regular Austin Hill will attempt to make his series debut.

]]>https://www.frontstretch.com/2019/06/26/eyes-on-xfinity-chad-finchum-brian-keselowski-learning-together-at-mbm-motorsports/feed/1200158Thinkin’ Out Loud: Joey Logano Emerges as 2018 Cup Championhttps://www.frontstretch.com/2018/11/19/thinkin-out-loud-joey-logano-emerges-as-2018-cup-champion/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=thinkin-out-loud-joey-logano-emerges-as-2018-cup-champion
https://www.frontstretch.com/2018/11/19/thinkin-out-loud-joey-logano-emerges-as-2018-cup-champion/#commentsMon, 19 Nov 2018 09:05:34 +0000https://www.frontstretch.com/?p=175779Who’s in the headline It took 10 years to fulfill the predictions but Joey Logano is your 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion. Logano took advantage of a quick, short-run car and passed Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. on a late race restart to take command of the race and run off into …

Who’s in the headline

It took 10 years to fulfill the predictions but Joey Logano is your 2018 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion. Logano took advantage of a quick, short-run car and passed Kyle Busch and Martin Truex Jr. on a late race restart to take command of the race and run off into the night with his first Cup Series title. The four championship finalists finished in the top four positions.

What happened

Denny Hamlin won the pole but his team started controversy immediately by picking the fourth pit stall instead of the first so their teammate and title contender, Kyle Busch, could have the most desired pit box. Hamlin led the initial 36 laps of the race. He pitted giving the lead to Truex for three laps before he pitted and handed the top spot to Michael McDowell for two laps. After McDowell pitted Hamlin resumed the lead for a lap before Kevin Harvick grabbed the lead and held it for 40 laps until the end of stage one.

To begin the second stage it was Harvick on point for the restart but Kyle Larson took over the top spot after the first green flag lap. Larson led for four laps before Logano asserted himself at the point for 14 circuits. Logano’s short run car caught up to him and Larson retook the lead on lap 105. Larson led for 13 circuits before the green flag pit stop dance began. During those stops, it was Harvick, Truex and Hamlin who took turns up front until Larson reassumed the lead. One more round of pit stops during a caution saw Harvick grab the lead yet again but it was Larson wrestling the lead away and holding on until the end of stage two.

The final stage began with Harvick leading back to green but Logano quickly took the top spot. He led the race through a caution for Larson who lost a tire while rim riding. Lap 218 was the final lap of this round of laps led for a car which brought about the next round of caution stops. Truex took the spot when Logano went in. 12 laps later was when Truex chose to pit and Kyle Busch chose to ride it out to the end. Fortunately for Busch, the caution flew for Suarez being caught up with Brad Keselowski. When the race went back green, Busch had the lead but could not hang on and Truex grabbed the top spot. He held on a minute but it was no contest as Truex grabbed the point. Logano quickly got rid of Truex and put enough distance between himself and the No. 78 that the final laps were just a formality.

There were 35 other cars on the track but we only saw them on restarts or when they were being lapped so it is hard to say what anyone else did during the event.

Why you should care

Team Penske has two of the most talented young drivers in the sport. They also have some of the best talent on pit boxes in the sport and their pit crews are exceptional. Do not be surprised to see the Penske cars in the playoff finals for years to come.

What your friends are talking about

Tyler Reddick took advantage of a late race decision to short pit and stole the Xfinity championship from Cole Custer who had the superior car but lost by pitting too late. As for Trucks, it was Brett Moffitt who broke from his typical, late-race rush to a win by leading the most laps. Moffitt took the lead with 29 laps to go and never looked back. As was the case in the Xfinity race as well, the only cautions were for the end of stages.

Steve Phelps, the President of NASCAR says that exciting times are ahead for the sport. He believes that selling tickets is a high priority and will be a point of emphasis going forward. Might be a good idea to make sure that the product is exciting to keep those folks coming back for more.

Goodyear anticipates similar tire combinations in 2019. Apparently, that means we are still treating tires like rocket science instead of simplifying them and putting tire management in the hands of the drivers. The negative PR of blown tires is more of a worry to the official tire supplier and the sanctioning body than putting a product on the track where drivers make a difference and you end up with the majority of the races featuring less than five on-track passes for the lead.

The man who many believe is the greatest stock car driver ever passed away this week. David Pearson, The Silver Fox, is second on the all-time win list. He won the only three titles that he ever attempted to race for. He smoked under caution, he didn’t care about leading laps and he generally only ran big money races. If he’d valued titles like Richard Petty, the King might very well be the Prince.

Who is mad

If you had the most dominant car of the season in the sport you would expect to win the title. The thing that killed Harvick all season was pit road miscues. Ironically this was a perfect night with no pit road issues for Harvick’s team, but he could only manage a third-place finish. He told Parker Kligerman he was not upset about losing the title and even managed a smile. If he doesn’t go home and sulk a little, there is total confusion about what Harvick genuinely wants from the sport.

Another disappointing evening for Larson. He was riding the rim and heading to a win that all four of the title contenders had already conceded when he caught a small piece of the outside wall and knocked the air out of his rear tire. They patched up his car but it was nowhere close to right for the remainder of the race. This entire season was filled with disappointments for Larson. If Chip Ganassi Racing would give him a complete effort every week they would be a contender for the title every year.

Who is happy

Mark Martin can finally say “I told you so.” 14 years ago he saw Logano race and declared he was the best thing since sliced bread. The name stuck and has hung over Logano’s head ever since. Well, the racer has made Martin finally look like a genius by living up to the hype and winning a title. He’s still got a long way to go to earn that title legitimately. It is still a long way to seven titles but we’ll see.

Keselowski famously went to bat for Logano when he was available. He stuck his neck out for a driver he barely knew and has now seen two championships in six years at Team Penske when they went decades without them before that. While Keselowski would have obviously enjoyed winning the title, it has to feel good to see someone who he helped recruit hoisting the ultimate prize in the sport.

When the checkered flag flew

Joey Logano is the 33rd different driver to win a Cup series title.

The victory at Homestead-Miami for Logano is his 21st career win in 363 starts.

That ranks him tied for 36th with Jeff Burton, Bobby Labonte, Benny Parsons and Jack Smith.

This is Logano’s first win at Homestead.

The triumph was Logano’s third of 2018

Second place went to Martin Truex Jr.

This is Truex’s ninth top-two finish of 2018.

All-time at Homestead, Truex has finished in the top two three times.

For his career, Truex has come home second 17 times.

That includes Ryan Newman, Geoffrey Bodine and Sterling Marlin.

Third place was filled by Kevin Harvick.

Harvick has 14 podium finishes in 2018.

For his career Harvick has finished top three eight times at Homestead.

On his resume he has run in the top three 130 times which puts him in 13th on the all-time list.

Darrell Wallace Jr. was the Rookie of the Race with his 21st place race finish.

The season is over. The final point standings of the 16 playoff eligible drivers are listed below.

1) Joey Logano – 5040

2) Martin Truex Jr. – 5035

3) Kevin Harvick – 5034

4) Kyle Busch – 5033

5) Aric Almirola – 2354

6) Kurt Busch- 2350

7) Chase Elliott – 2350

8) Brad Keselowski – 2343

9) Kyle Larson – 2299

10) Ryan Blaney – 2298

11) Denny Hamlin – 2285

12) Clint Bowyer- 2272

13) Austin Dillon – 2245

14) Jimmie Johnson – 2242

15) Erik Jones – 2220

16) Alex Bowman – 2204

What is in the cooler(one to six beers where one is a stinker and six is an instant classic)

There was plenty of some kind of moonshine. The title was on the line and, in the end, the four contenders were in the top four spots. When it was all said and done, Logano had the car and no one else did so he is the series champion for 2018. Not sure it was that exciting when the only passes were between two drivers who were covering for each other. With the lack of excitement shown for the rest of the teams, it just isn’t that high on the list. We’ll give it three cold Budweisers because Logano is a first-time winner.

Where do you point your DVR for next week

The off-season is upon us. Get out and enjoy the gifts God has given us. Buy the streams of the big off-season races. Reconnect with your families and friends. Most of all be thankful for the freedom that has been given to us by those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

]]>https://www.frontstretch.com/2018/11/19/thinkin-out-loud-joey-logano-emerges-as-2018-cup-champion/feed/26175779Tracking the Trucks: fred’s 250 powered by Coca-Colahttps://www.frontstretch.com/2015/10/25/tracking-the-trucks-freds-250-powered-by-coca-cola-3/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=tracking-the-trucks-freds-250-powered-by-coca-cola-3
https://www.frontstretch.com/2015/10/25/tracking-the-trucks-freds-250-powered-by-coca-cola-3/#commentsSun, 25 Oct 2015 18:28:03 +0000https://frontstretch.com/?p=107182In a Nutshell: Timothy Peters took the checkered flag under caution ahead of Brandon Jones in Saturday afternoon’s fred’s 250 powered by Coca-Cola at Talladega Superspeedway. Jones led the field to the green on the lone green-white-checkered attempt, though Peters was easily able to take the top spot. A wrecking Spencer Gallagher and John Wes …

In a Nutshell:Timothy Peters took the checkered flag under caution ahead of Brandon Jones in Saturday afternoon’s fred’s 250 powered by Coca-Cola at Talladega Superspeedway. Jones led the field to the green on the lone green-white-checkered attempt, though Peters was easily able to take the top spot. A wrecking Spencer Gallagher and John Wes Townley brought the yellow out just half a lap into the first of two circuits to complete the race. Mason Mingus, Erik Jones and Tyler Reddick rounded out the top 5.

Who Should Have Won: Simply put, hitting a bullseye when playing darts is easier than picking a deserving winner at Talladega. In the end, it comes down to who plays the draft well enough to survive the on-track carnage and take the checkered flag first. Timothy Peters started on the pole and though he got shuffled back as far as 11th during a round of green flag pit stops, the final restart allowed him to power around rookie Brandon Jones to take his second consecutive victory at the superspeedway.

Race Rundown

In place of the injured Austin Theriault, who is still recovering from hitting a non-SAFER barrier head on at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Brad Keselowski Racing tapped Brian Keselowski to pilot the No. 29 Ford at Talladega on Saturday. After starting 11th, Keselowski made a rookie mistake and sped on pit road, putting him a deep hole to dig out of. But as the race went on, a round of green flag pit stops allowed him to get out front where he led 10 laps.

“I did the one thing I said I shouldn’t do is speed down pit road, so it didn’t start off the way that we needed to,” Keselowski said. “Obviously, starting on the bottom helped because the bottom line was the way to be, so we rode in line and had that first pit stop and had to go back. I was like, ‘OK, let’s see if we can work our way to the front,’ and we worked our way to the front. I worked with the 4 truck, he did a good job. I worked with the 23, the 33 – those guys all did a really good job of pushing when you needed to and not pushing when you shouldn’t.”

It wasn’t meant to be for the debuting driver, though. As the field rolled around under caution getting ready to take the green flag for a two lap shootout to end the race, the No. 29 sputtered and slowed on the apron, out of fuel, dashing Keselowski’s hopes to become the feel-good story of the weekend; he finished 17th.

“That’s just the way luck goes sometimes. We didn’t expect to get the fuel mileage we did when we were out there leading,” he said. “When we were out there in the pack I could roll off the gas and save gas a lot, and when we got out front we just had terrible fuel mileage. That’s just the way it is in this pack-type racing. Anyone that’s out in front is gonna be on the throttle the whole time and everybody else is part throttle trying to save. We missed it by two laps. If we hadn’t had a green-white-checker, we would have been OK.

“I’m emotional. I’m really proud of how we ran. I’m disappointed that it was probably my only chance. We’ll see how it works out.”

While Keselowski doesn’t necessarily have the numbers in his limited Sprint Cup starts, it’s impotant to note that he was doing it in a car he prepared on a shoestring budget. Suddenly at Talladega, he was put in a truck that has solid sponsorship backing and is one of the stronger ones on the track in teh Truck Series, and it was easy to see the talent level there. With a couple of rides opening up in the series next season, it would be nice to see the older Keselowski brother get a shot in equipment that stands of chance for winning a race and a championship.

Late in the fred’s 250, NASCAR was put in a situation where it was forced to act on the rule that prohibits a pair of drivers to lock bumpers and drive to the front of the field. Christopher Bell hooked the nose of his No. 54 Toyota to the back end of Brandon Jones’ No. 33 Chevrolet, and the duo was able to power the outside line to the lead ahead of Brian Keselowski, who held the top spot at the time.

“It’s pretty easy to see that when they’re next to you, especially when the 33 is all over the place,” Keselowski said. “The 23 (Spencer Gallagher) is bumping me and got locked up a few times, but released, which was the right way to do it and they said that was OK, but the 33 (B. Jones) and 54 (Bell) stayed together for a long time. I knew if they stayed together, they’d beat us and that’s what got the 17 out there.

Though it took a little time, NASCAR did make the call to penalize Bell for the illegal contact during the caution that set up the green-white-checkered finish. He ended up settling for a 13th-place finish.

“The penalty was definitely disappointing, but I’m learning as I go,” Bell said after the checkered flag flew. “This was my first-ever restrictor-plate race. If I don’t push them like that then you end up getting hung out and not getting up to the front. We’ll learn from it and go on to the next one.”

Of course, social media exploded when only Bell was penalized and Jones was left at the front of the field. In several previous incidents at both Talladega and Dayonta, the driving doing the pushing and the one getting the benefit from being pushed were both black flagged.

When the rule first came out, I questioned how fair it was to penalize a driver who simply couldn’t get the one behind him off of the back bumper, especially since leaving it the NASCAR’s discretion opens up a whole different can of worms. I don’t want anyone making sudden moves that could create a melee on the track, nor do I want to see the call made to penalize both in one incident and turn around and change its mind in the next.

It seems that NASCAR has actually figured out the driver being pushed can’t control what the person behind him chooses to do. It’s the way the rule should have been enforced all along, and as long as the sanctioning body continues to be consistent with ruling in this way, it’s something I can embrace.

With that said, it could create a situation where a teammate or driver clearly out of the championship battle in the future sacrifices their finishing position to help another get a better result. And while that could have its own implications, all I ask of NASCAR is consistency in its rulings: penalize both or just penalize the pusher. Taking out the subjectivity from the calls will go a long way in helping the sanctioning body earn back a little of the trust so many fans have lost in the past.

Quick Hits:

ThorSport Racing teammates Matt Crafton and Cameron Hayley faced some issues trying to get through inspection on Friday. According to a report from our Jerry Jordan (http://www.kickinthetires.net/news/480-matt-crafton-and-cameron-hayley-trucks-have-inspection-issues.html), the source quoted said “there was a template issue and NASCAR is looking at it.” A NASCAR spokesperson confirmed there were issues with inspection that both teams were allowed to fix.

For one race only, NASCAR changed the green-white-checkered rule, limiting attempts from three to one. The late-race big one happened with a little over one lap remaining in the scheduled distance, setting the field up for a two-lap shootout. But instead of that shootout, John Wes Townley got into the back of Spencer Gallagher, sending the two into the outside wall to bring out the yellow just a half-lap into the final restart. The remaining laps were run under yellow for a lackluster finish to what had been a solid race.

Matt Crafton’s championship hopes took another hit at Talladega on Saturday. From debris to running out of fuel to crash damage from two different incidents, the No. 88 team endured it all. But despite the 24th-place finish, Crafton remains unconcerned about his championship chances, saying “we’re going to go try to win the next four and see what happens.” He currently sits third in the standings, 23 markers behind leader Erik Jones and five back from Tyler Reddick in second.

The pressure of a tight championship battle and racing at Talladega hit Erik Jones and the No. 4 team early in the race. On the first round of pit stops, a miscommunication between the crew chief and the crew members performing the service saw a planned fuel only stop turned into one that included four fresh tires. Despite the setback that nearly dropped Jones outside the top 20, he was able to recover for a solid fourth-place finish, something any championship contender would be happy to walk out of Talladega with.

Billy Boat Motorsports teammates Chad Boat and Mason Mingus each scored their career-best finishes Saturday afternoon. Boat, who had damage from the wreck that caused the green-white-checkered finish, scored a ninth-place result, while Mingus finished a solid third.

Rookie of the Race: Erik Jones, finished fourth(Note: Only drivers declared for the Rookie of the Year battle are eligible for Rookie of the Race.)

Points Update: Erik Jones remains as the championship leader, though he now has a little breathing room, thanks to Matt Crafton’s struggles. Jones holds an 18 point advantage over Tyler Reddick, who moved up one position on the strength of a fifth-place finish. Meanwhile, Crafton, who dropped one position after a dismal day, sits five markers back in third. Johnny Sauter and race winner Timothy Peters, who jumped one spot, round out the top 5.

Rookie Cameron Hayley took advantage of a quiet day and a sixth-place finish and jumped to sixth, 120 points behind the leader. Daniel Hemric, who suffered multiple setbacks, including a hood pin failure early in the race, dropped to seventh. John Wes Townley, Ben Kennedy and Spencer Gallagher round out the top 10.

Quotable:

“This is for her (Ashlee Richmond, sister of crew chief Marcus Richmond). We know you’re watching. Ashlee Richmond, we love you to death. Thank you for riding with us today and being who you are. This is just an awesome feeling. Thanks to all these guys – Red Horse Racing back at the shop, Triad horsepower, Toyota Tundra was awesome today. Oh my goodness – just Tom DeLoach (team owner) for believing in us and this time. We got on a roll starting at Chicago and, man, it’s just been up from here.” Timothy Peters

“Everything went our way for the entire race. We had great pit stops all day and we were really in position the whole time to be able to get the lead and stay out front. We knew both GMS Racing teams had a shot at a win today. I didn’t want to give away the preferred groove on the last restart and I knew I had some really strong trucks behind me, so we decided to take the bottom line. Shane (Huffman, crew chief) was telling me on the radio that if I got out front and there was a caution it would be over, so holding the lead before another caution could come out was our main goal and it just didn’t work out that way.” Brandon Jones, finished second

“That wasn’t bad at all. The outside lane went that time and everyone worked together and then it just fell apart in a real hurry down the backstretch and it brought the caution out and the end of the race. It’s a shame we couldn’t gain more points than what we did, but we’re still right there to apply pressure on the 4 if he ever does slip up.” Tyler Reddick, finished fifth

Up Next: The Camping World Truck Series heads to Martinsville Speedway next . Last year, Darrell Wallace, Jr. led a race-high 97 laps en route to a 0.495 sec. victory over Timothy Peters. Coverage for the Kroger 200 begins at 1:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports 1; the race can also be heard on your local MRN affiliate and SiriusXM NASCAR Channel 90.

]]>https://www.frontstretch.com/2015/10/25/tracking-the-trucks-freds-250-powered-by-coca-cola-3/feed/1107182Truckin’ Thursdays: Brian Keselowski Set to Make Truck Series Debuthttps://www.frontstretch.com/2015/10/21/truckin-thursdays-brian-keselowski-set-to-make-truck-series-debut/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=truckin-thursdays-brian-keselowski-set-to-make-truck-series-debut
https://www.frontstretch.com/2015/10/21/truckin-thursdays-brian-keselowski-set-to-make-truck-series-debut/#commentsThu, 22 Oct 2015 02:57:12 +0000https://frontstretch.com/?p=107058The last time the Camping World Truck Series was on track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Brad Keselowski Racing driver Austin Theriault suffered a terrifying crash after contact from teammate Tyler Reddick, who got loose but was unable to right his truck. The nearly head-on collision with a non-SAFER barrier saw Theriault airlifted to a …

The last time the Camping World Truck Series was on track at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Brad Keselowski Racing driver Austin Theriault suffered a terrifying crash after contact from teammate Tyler Reddick, who got loose but was unable to right his truck. The nearly head-on collision with a non-SAFER barrier saw Theriault airlifted to a local hospital before he was released for further evaluation at home.

According to a blog by team owner Brad Keselowski, “the front of the truck collapsed, driving the steering wheel into Austin’s face and breaking his helmet, and he also took a shot to the lower back.” But despite the injuries, Theriault’s father said in an interview with the Bangor Daily News the day after the accident that “[Austin] fully intends to race again this season” though there is no timetable available as to when his return might come.

The following week, when the Sprint Cup Series raced at Charlotte Motor Speedway, Theriault was there, gingerly walking around in a back brace.

“Obviously a pretty tough impact last Saturday in Vegas. All in all, putting it all into perspective, I’m very fortunate the injuries weren’t worse than they are,” Theriault told FOXSports.com. “Obviously at the time I was in a lot of pain. The doctors did what they could and made the right decisions planning for the worst and getting me to the hospital. Come to find out there were some issues with my back, nothing that prevented me from leaving the hospital that night. It was actually the morning when I got out.”

Enter Brian Keselowski, Brad’s older brother. Knowing that many of the Sprint Cup Series drivers he would normally turn to as a fill-in wouldn’t be interested, Brad, thanks to a flexible partnership with sponsor Cooper Standard, asked his brother to pilot the truck at Talladega Superspeedway this weekend.

“For one thing, Talladega is a dangerous track, and while it’s always a fun race, there’s not a lot to be gained in the way of knowledge from driving there,” Keselowski wrote in his blog. “That narrowed the pool down to drivers from XFINITY, Truck and ARCA, and when I considered the drivers that interested me, none of them was really more qualified than Brian was.”

Because the No. 29 is locked into the field via owner points, Brian will make his Truck Series debut Saturday afternoon.

As for Theriault’s return? He told Fox Sports at Charlotte that “it could be a few weeks, to a month, maybe more.” He will remain in the back brace he was fitted with until doctors determine the 10 percent compression fracture he suffered has healed enough to remove it. Most recently, Theriault celebrated a small victory on Twitter.

Update: Makes me sound like a child- But I'm really excited, I can put my socks on again without help! Past few days have been good…

Truckin’ Tidbits

For the only time this season, the Camping World Truck Series will air on FOX instead of on its usual home on FOX Sports 1. Coverage for the fred’s 250 powered by Coca-Cola begins at 1 p.m. ET Saturday.

NASCAR has changed the green-white-checkered finish rule for this weekend at Talladega Superspeedway only. Instead of the standard three attempts at a GWC finish, drivers will only have one shot to finish Saturday afternoon’s race in overtime.

Timothy Peters returns to Talladega Superspeedway as the defending winner of this race; he led 31 laps en route to his eighth career win. After struggling for much of the season, the driver of the No. 17 Toyota carries momentum from a runner-up finish at Las Vegas. He has not visited Victory Lane since.

Two-time NASCAR Southern Whelen Modified champion Andy Seuss will attempt to make his Truck Series debut Saturday afternoon. He will pilot the No. 28 Chevrolet for FDNY Racing, a team built entirely of volunteers that donates its winnings to the Uniformed Firefighters Association Widow’s and Children’s Fund. For more information, click here.

At the end of the 2015 season, Johnny Sauter will leave ThorSport Racing to join GMS Racing, though many of the details, like sponsorship and truck number are not yet determined. In 170 Truck Series starts, Sauter boasts 10 wins, 63 top 5s and 99 top-10 finishes. He currently sits fourth in the championship standings.

“This opportunity to race with GMS Racing in 2016 is incredible. They’ve quickly built an impressive, race-winning organization in a short period of time and have only gotten stronger as the season has progressed,” Sauter told Catchfence.com. “I can’t wait for Speedweeks at Daytona to get working with everyone, and am excited to rejoin the Chevrolet family as well. GMS Racing brings really fast trucks to the racetrack, and I can’t wait to run up front and compete for race wins with them.”

Las Vegas winner John Wes Townley plans to return to the Truck Series full-time next season, while running a handful of XFINITY Series races.

“It would be like I did this year, but I would just focus on the races I’m strongest at,” Townley told WSB Radio. “And we can just kind of sit down and have more to focus on those weeks, because I feel like this year we just kind of focused on quantity over quality and in order to progress, we need to approach it a little differently. That’s kind of what we are thinking right now.”

According to a report from the Charlotte Observer, Brad Keselowski Racing will relocate from Mooresville, NC to a larger building at the Statesville Regional Airport, formerly used by the BK Racing Sprint Cup team. The organization expects to be completely moved into its new shop by the beginning of the 2016 season.

“We are proud to be a Ford team, and we’re located literally next door to a GMS Racing, which is a Chevy team, so that should make for a fun neighborhood rivalry,” Keselowski said in a statement. “Our location in Statesville is perfect because we do not have the traffic and congestion that surrounds the greater Charlotte area, plus we can tap into the area’s skilled workforce. The Statesville Regional Airport is a key asset to us because with our hectic travel schedule, it’s critical to have a first-class facility that is located adjacent to BKR.”

Austin Hill returns to the Truck Series this weekend for the first of three remaining races with Empire Racing Group. The 21-year-old will also pilot the No. 82 Ford at Martsinsville Speedway and Phoenix International Raceway. Hill crashed out of the season opener at Daytona on lap 13 and brought home a respectable 16th-place finish at Dover in late May.

“We had a really fast truck at Daytona with Empire Racing Group at the start of the season. We were the fastest on the board in the first practice there,” Hill said in a team release. “The truck drafted really well, too. That was my first time drafting like that, and I was still trying to figure it out, so in the race I got behind (Johnny) Sauter and was able to really understand how to side draft. Since then, I’ve talked a lot of people about Talladega, and it looks like for as good as we ran at Daytona we should be good on speed this weekend. Also, Talladega is a wider track so there’s more room if you do happen to make a mistake.”

MAKE Motorsports announced a new partnership with Bad Boy Mowers for Talladega this weekend. Travis Kvapil will pilot the No. 1 Chevrolet adorned with the company’s colors. For more information, click here.

]]>https://www.frontstretch.com/2015/10/21/truckin-thursdays-brian-keselowski-set-to-make-truck-series-debut/feed/6107058Brian Keselowski to Drive for Brad Keselowski Racing at Talladegahttps://www.frontstretch.com/2015/10/16/brian-keselowski-to-drive-for-brad-keselowski-racing-at-talladega/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=brian-keselowski-to-drive-for-brad-keselowski-racing-at-talladega
https://www.frontstretch.com/2015/10/16/brian-keselowski-to-drive-for-brad-keselowski-racing-at-talladega/#commentsFri, 16 Oct 2015 14:06:18 +0000https://frontstretch.com/?p=106651On Thursday it was announced that a set of brothers will be helping each other out for the upcoming NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ Fred’s 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Talladega Superspeedway. Brad Keselowski announced via his blog that brother Brian Keselowski will drive his No.29 Ford F-150 in the Oct. 24 event. Brian Keselowski …

On Thursday it was announced that a set of brothers will be helping each other out for the upcoming NASCAR Camping World Truck Series’ Fred’s 250 Powered by Coca-Cola at Talladega Superspeedway.

Brad Keselowski announced via his blog that brother Brian Keselowski will drive his No.29 Ford F-150 in the Oct. 24 event. Brian Keselowski replaces Austin Theriault, who is still recovering from an accident at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Keselowski will join teammate Tyler Reddick, who drives the No. 19 full-time for the team, in the race.

It will be the first career NASCAR Camping World Truck Series start for the elder Keselowski, who has 63 NASCAR XFINITY and three NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts under his belt. He also has 39 ARCA Series starts, including three victories.

Brian Keselowski’s signature moment in NASCAR’s top three divisions happened in 2011 when he made his first, and so far only, Daytona 500 driving for his family owned team, K-Automotive. He finished fifth in his Duel race that year and the opportunity allowed him to receive sponsorship from Discount Tire. He finished 40th in the Daytona 500.

The No. 29 truck has two victories on the season and currently sits seventh in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series owner points.

]]>https://www.frontstretch.com/2015/10/16/brian-keselowski-to-drive-for-brad-keselowski-racing-at-talladega/feed/1106651NASCAR 101: NASCAR Drivers from the Mittenhttps://www.frontstretch.com/2015/08/13/nascar-101-nascar-drivers-from-the-mitten/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nascar-101-nascar-drivers-from-the-mitten
Fri, 14 Aug 2015 03:39:49 +0000https://frontstretch.com/?p=102854When I was growing up, the one NASCAR race weekend I could always count on seeing each year was one at Michigan International Speedway, whether it was the June or August race (the latter, usually). Good thing, too – the track didn’t always have a stellar reputation for putting on a great show on TV, …

When I was growing up, the one NASCAR race weekend I could always count on seeing each year was one at Michigan International Speedway, whether it was the June or August race (the latter, usually). Good thing, too – the track didn’t always have a stellar reputation for putting on a great show on TV, so actually being there rather on the couch was always a solid decision.

One thing I always noticed was the intensity with which fans cheered on their hometown heroes. I’ve been to multiple tracks across the country, and it’s interesting: at no other track would I hear the fan response when a local driver or even one who simply called the state home was announced at driver introductions shake the stands quite like Michigan fans heard one of their own getting their time in the spotlight over the public address system. It was usually due to Johnny Benson, which made sense since Grand Rapids was only about a two-hour drive away, but it didn’t stop there. Brad Keselowski got an ovation even early in his career. Same went for Jack Sprague. Heck, even a lesser-known 63-year-old veteran named Vern Slagh ran his only XFINITY race in 2003 at the track in August and got some cheers. I remember he had the name and logo of the Cup race that weekend on the hood of his No. 65. Shrug. Promotion.

So in the spirit of cheering for some locals, let’s run down a list of drivers who hail from the mitten-shaped state. We’ll start with the still-active NASCAR drivers and then move into a selection of some of the sport’s former competitors you’ll likely recall.

Present

Erik Jones: NASCAR’s newest flavor of the week hails from the nearly 600-person village of Byron and is running this weekend’s Camping World Truck Series race.

The Keselowskis: Of course, you know Brad Keselowski, 2012 Sprint Cup champion. Then there’s brother Brian Keselowski, who hasn’t raced in NASCAR since 2013 but is now a part-time competitor in the ARCA Racing Series. Both are from Rochester Hills.

Erik Jones is one of a small handful of NASCAR competitors from Michigan. (Photo: NASCAR via Getty Images)

Chad Finley: Not a NASCAR driver in the top three series per se until this weekend, assuming his Truck Series debut with Rette Jones Racing goes swimmingly. The Dewitt native is the son of Jeff Finley, who ran an XFINITY race in 1999 and a Truck race in 2002.

Past

The Keselowskis: Brad and Brian certainly weren’t the only Keselowskis to reach NASCAR’s ranks. Their father Bob was a longtime Truck Series competitor, winning a single race in the series in 1997, while his brother Ron scored 11 top 10s in 68 Cup starts.

Gordon Johncock: Hastings, Michigan’s Gordon Johncock is best known for his pair of Indianapolis 500 wins in 1973 and 1982. But the open wheel expert also drove 21 races between 1966 and 1976 in the Cup Series, with a best finish of fourth, twice.

Tim Fedewa: The community of Holt is home to two quasi-famous folks over the course of its history: former senator Harry DeMaso and Tim Fedewa, four times a winner in the XFINITY Series. He’s still at the track most weekends as a spotter.

Johnny Benson, Jr.: Until 2008, Benson was a fixture on the Cup Series circuit, with a fan-favorite win in 2002. His biggest successes came in the Truck Series, where he won 14 times and scored a championship in 2008. Remember, Benson’s a junior – father Johnny also ran one Cup race in 1973, finishing 21st.

Iggy Katona: Five seasons, 13 races, three top 10s. That’s Willis, Michigan’s Iggy Katona’s Cup career. Far more interesting is his career in ARCA, where he was the series’ most winningest driver with 79 until Frank Kimmel came along.

Jack Sprague: Like Benson, a former Truck Series champion, but the Spring Lake native has a few more to his name – three titles in all. That and his 28 wins in the series are in addition to a 108-race XFINITY career (wins: one) and 24 races in Cup (top 10s: zero).

Tracy Leslie: Mount Clemens: home of Paul Feig, Dean Cain, Uncle Kracker… and Tracy Leslie, former NASCAR driver. Leslie had little to show for a five-race Cup career, but he did end up with a win in the 1993 Kroger 200 in the XFINITY Series, remaining in the series until 1998, when he moved back to the ARCA Series, himself a former champion in 1988.

]]>102854Thinkin’ Out Loud: 2013 Toyota Owners 400 at Richmondhttps://www.frontstretch.com/2013/04/29/thinkin-out-loud-richmond-1-race-recap-2/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=thinkin-out-loud-richmond-1-race-recap-2
Mon, 29 Apr 2013 06:27:41 +0000https://frontstretch.com/site/?page_id=65419Brian Vickers spun in turn three on lap 396 to bring out the final caution flag of the night. It brought most of the field to the pits, scrambling the running order and cost Juan Pablo Montoya his first win on an oval.

Key Moment – Brian Vickers spun in turn three on lap 396 to bring out the final caution flag of the night. It brought most of the field to the pits, scrambling the running order and cost Juan Pablo Montoya his first win on an oval.

In a Nutshell – They only pay money to the leader on the last lap. One of the three laps that Kevin Harvick led was the last one.

Dramatic Moment – After the checkered flag flew not one, not two, but three former Cup champions were running into each other on the track.

That final restart, between the divebombing and daring three-abreast moves was Richmond at its best. The fact everyone got through that in one piece is a minor miracle.

What They’ll be Talking About Around the Water Cooler

Hopefully, one of the better finishes to the season for NASCAR in 2013. But there’s no denying, this Monday that the penalties handed down to Joe Gibbs Racing still take center stage. While even Toyota admits the part in question, an illegal connecting rod was underweight the “throw the book” reaction has caught everyone off guard, part of $450,000 in fines due to penalties handed out within the past two months to individual teams. Matt Kenseth, in particular may be facing an uphill battle to rebound from a 50-point loss due to the engine failing postrace inspection after Kansas. He didn’t waste any time this weekend, qualifying on pole, leading the most laps and finishing in seventh place; however, he still remains in a “wild card” position instead of firmly within the top 10 in series points. The appeals board will be busy in the month of May…

Speaking of Kenseth’s engine problems at Kansas, Toyota Racing Development has recalled three engines that were issued to Michael Waltrip Racing. All three engines were destined for Clint Bowyer, one for Saturday night’s race and two for next week’s Russian Roulette 500-miler at Talladega. It turns out the manufacturer of the rods had notified TRD of their weight, less than the allowable 525 grams but the engine builders didn’t notice it in the paperwork shipped with them. TRD has made changes to their quality procedures to prevent the error from occurring again; still, that’s not the type of thing that makes your customers feel all warm and fuzzy.

Late last year and early this year, people were talking about how Tony Stewart had mellowed. Being an owner and recent champion seemed to be giving him a new perspective, one that resulted in some of the antics he used to perform being held in check. Welp, the last few weeks, that has all gone out the window. Stewart has threatened to kick Joey Logano’s ass, then ended up trading body slams and verbal insults with Kurt Busch after the race Saturday night before speeding off in his golf cart and not commenting for the TV crew. It seems like a combination of bad luck, worse handling and driving moves that have backfired, late (think: Fontana) have taken their toll.

Wednesday will be the appeal hearing for the Penske rear end penalties at Texas. The conspiracy theorists will be out in force if nothing is changed, claiming Hendrick is treated differently than the other teams. If the penalties are altered, it will bring into question the authority of the sanctioning body and the overall technical inspection process. There are some rumblings in the garage that the drivers and possibly the owners are looking to sit down with the folks from Daytona to try and loosen up the regulations and technical inspection a bit to afford the teams the opportunity to innovate.

Goodyear gets a lot of abuse in this column because, frankly, they deserve it. That said, they will also receive praise when it is warranted. Saturday night proved, once again, that if the tire wears out the racing will be better. It was fantastic at Fontana earlier this year and it was great again Saturday night. When the caution flew at the end of the event, leaving only a green-white-checkered finish, most of those in contention still came in for fresh rubber. It was clearly the right call; in just two laps, Harvick came from seventh on the final restart and took the win handily. It is probably false hope again, but perhaps the folks in Akron will realize how good Saturday night was and come up with more tires that wear out.

Montoya had his first oval win in the bag but lost it when Vickers went for a spin. Montoya wasn’t the best car on the track but he had himself in the right spot and was going to get the win. Amazingly, he was still all smiles during post race unlike Stewart, Kurt Busch and Kenseth, who had their panties all in a wad over finishes at the back of the top 10 (Note: Stewart slid back to 18th after his contact). Montoya hasn’t been able to benefit from Earnhardt Ganassi Racing’s newfound speed this season but perhaps this run will give him confidence.

Brad Keselowski may not have been fined for his blatant disdain for the sanctioning body last week, but he wasn’t shown any love during the race Saturday night. Anyone who has seen Norm Benning at Darlington ought to know that NASCAR is very lenient with the minimum speed enforcement. It appeared that they took the opportunity to send the defending champ home early rather than turn a blind eye when he was struggling at the end of the race with engine problems.

Speaking of Keselowskis, a thumbs up to Brian Keselowski for running the race on Saturday night. The brother of the defending champ is trying very hard to make it in racing with a bailing wire and duct tape budget. While they only ran 186 laps, it was great to see such an underdog organization get on the track and compete with the full-time guys.

Friday’s Nationwide Series race ended with Nelson Piquet Jr. kicking Brian Scott in the man region after the two got together on the racetrack for the second time this season. Apparently, that wasn’t the end of the extracurricular activities on the Richmond International Raceway grounds. Later Friday night, two of Scott’s crew members were arrested by Henrico County Police after an altercation outside of the Driver/Owner lot. The crew members were charged with misdemeanors and released, pending their court date in the near future. “Boys, Have At It” gone overboard?

The Hindenburg Award for Foul Fortune

Marcos Ambrose done blowed up at Richmond, dropping out before halfway en route to 42nd place. The Devil Racer has been having a hard time this season, with just one top 10 and three finishes outside of the top 20. Even with those struggles, he’s still in 23rd in points and knowing his ability on road courses, he could rebound enough to win those two races, finish top 20 in points and make the Chase.

Jimmie Johnson may not have been looking like a sure winner, but being spun out by Stewart and then catching some of Mark Martin’s accident with Kasey Kahne ruined his chances at an impressive win. Johnson limped home 12th after climbing inside the top five most of the night.

Greg Biffle broke a shock in the first 150 laps and caught a break, able to change it out during a caution. Unfortunately for the Ford, it just got worse as the night progressed. He spun through the grass on lap 233 and ground off several pounds of his body and undercarriage. No. 16 finished the race in 36th with only 391 laps completed.

The grounds crew at Richmond forgot to turn off the automated sprinkling system which resulted in the caution for Keselowski cutting down a tire being extended for a few laps. The grass in the infield at Richmond is very nice, but somebody needs to make sure there is a check box on the grounds crew pre-race form to make sure the system is turned off when we come back in the fall.

The “Seven Come for Eleven” Award for Fine Fortune

Whether it was fine fortune or just pure talent, Keselowski turned right and then left and weaved between the carnage of Stewart, Johnson and Kyle Busch to miss their wreck and stay competitive — before he finally was black-flagged for lack of speed. Keselowski wound up 33rd after being sent to the garage.

Logano ran in the top 12 for most of the first half of the race before slipping back to the lower teens, without the speed to be a true contender. He restarted 11th for the green-white-checkered finish, simply hoping for a top 10 but shook out a surprising third after the total chaos of the last two laps.

Jeff Burton was a typical 12th to 16th-place car all night long at Richmond. His team took the gamble of staying out on the last caution though and, while he didn’t hold onto the lead, he did manage a fifth-place finish for the first time since the fall Phoenix race in 2011.

Worth Noting

Harvick’s victory is the 20th in his career in 439 starts. It is his third victory at Richmond in his career.

The runner-up finish for Clint Bowyer was his fourth top-five finish of the year. Bowyer also led 113 laps on the evening; heading into the Richmond race, through the season’s first eight events he had led just one.

Logano finished third for the second top 5 of his career at Richmond and his best finish at the track by one spot.

Kenseth and Bowyer alone led the first 253 laps of the race. In the end, an event regarded as highly competitive had just seven leaders and 10 lead changes, the fewest of the Sprint Cup season to date. Sometimes stats can deceive…

Juan Pablo Montoya (fourth) scored the first top five for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates since Bristol in 2011 (Jamie McMurray, August night race). For Montoya himself, it was his best result since a fourth at Martinsville in April 2011.

NASCAR actually evaluated their call against Kyle Busch for an illegal entrance to pit lane only to reverse it during the caution period. What’s next? Dogs and cats living together?

NASCAR doesn’t give crowd estimates anymore but the stands looked pretty full when the race started, except for the bottoms of the back straight and turns 3 and 4. Unfortunately, by the end of the race, the crowd had thinned out quite a bit. It might behoove Richmond to start the race an hour earlier so that the checkered flag doesn’t fly at 11:30 at night.

Monday is Dale Earnhardt’s birthday. Once again, Dale Earnhardt Incorporated and the Dale Earnhardt Foundation will be hosting Dale Earnhardt day at DEI headquarters in Mooresville. Fans are welcome from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. A new exhibit will be unveiled and the grand showroom will be open to the public for an up close and personal look at the cars on display.

Top 10 at Richmond by Manufacturer:

Chevrolet – 5
Toyota – 2
Ford – 3

What’s the Points?

Johnson may have finished 12th on Saturday night but his closest competitors coming into the race didn’t have much luck either. As a result, he leaves Richmond with a 43-point lead over Carl Edwards. Kahne was caught in the wreck with Martin and lost a spot in the standings while Dale Earnhardt Jr. is tied with him after gaining one spot this week. Bowyer’s second-place finish moved him up three spots, into the top five in points but he is still more than a race’s worth out of the lead.

Keselowski lost three spots thanks to his horrible night in Richmond and is sitting sixth in the standings. Kyle Busch had a rough night, but amazingly didn’t gain or lose any positions as Greg Biffle free fell past him down to eighth. Harvick’s win bumped him up to ninth in points, overtaking his teammate Paul Menard for the top spot among the RCR drivers. Menard is still hanging on to 10th in the standings.

After the 50-point penalty to Kenseth, he is 13th in points and is only credited with one win toward the Chase tie-breaker. Hamlin was not allowed to race at Richmond and, as a result, he is 71 points out of 20th place and in danger of not having a shot at the Wild Card if he is not able to get back to racing by the time Darlington’s race goes green.

Overall Rating (On a scale of one to six beer cans, with one being a stinker and a six-pack an instant classic) – Richmond International Raceway is the favorite of most of the drivers in the series and a majority of the fans. Saturday night did nothing to dampen that enthusiasm for the track, as the race ended with a complete free-for-all of a green-white-checkered finish, paired with the perfect sprinkling of 11 cautions for 75 laps. The only things missing to make this night perfection were someone upside down on fire and a water bottle being thrown during postrace interviews. As a result, we’re going to give this one four well chilled bottles of Michelob Amber Bock.

Next Up — If you believe the NASCAR commercial during the Richmond race, the best racing anywhere is coming up next weekend as the series heads to Talladega. The problem is that there is a very real possibility that the race will be a single file parade for 90% of the event. One thing is for sure; the best parties of the year will be in the infield. The race is on FOX TV at 1:00 p.m. and will be on MRN radio as well.

]]>65419Nationwide Series Breakdown: 2009 Kroger 200 at IRPhttps://www.frontstretch.com/2009/07/26/nationwide-series-breakdown-kroger-200-2/#utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nationwide-series-breakdown-kroger-200-2
Sun, 26 Jul 2009 23:34:54 +0000https://frontstretch.com/site/?p=23031After Saturday night’s race, even I am willing to put aside the fact that yet again the Nationwide Series ended a race with a 1-2 dose of Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch (though this time Edwards came out on top). Why? Without a doubt, the Kroger 200 was the most exciting race of the 2009 NNS season, and perhaps the best seen at any level of NASCAR this year.

After Saturday night’s race, even I am willing to put aside the fact that yet again the Nationwide Series ended a race with a 1-2 dose of Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch (though this time, Edwards came out on top). Why? Without a doubt, the Kroger 200 was the most exciting race of the 2009 NNS season, and perhaps the best seen at any level of NASCAR this year.

Edwards managed to score his second win of the 2009 campaign in old-fashioned short track style. Starting alongside Busch on a lap 174 restart, Edwards went after his fellow title contender, dive-bombing a number of corners and trading some paint until he took the lead for good on lap 178. And while Edwards drove away for the win, the battle for third position was one for the ages, as Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski, Steve Wallace, Ron Hornaday, and Trevor Bayne put on a short-track clinic that had every single one of the 40,000 fans at ORP on their feet. Beating and banging, with drivers going even three-wide on the narrow Indiana oval, watching this pack race hard and manage to avoid wrecking was nothing short of miraculous.

And while Edwards and Busch were the class of the field during the second half of the race, they each dodged a bullet in not having to deal with Steve Wallace and Bayne late in the running. Bayne, who won his first career pole that afternoon, led the first 34 laps until the yellow flag flew for Michael Annett. The pace car got onto the race track extremely quickly and in close proximity to the leaders, leading Bayne to slow himself down and Steve Wallace to hit him in the back. Despite the incident clearly being a product of the pace car awkwardly entering the race track, NASCAR maintained that both Bayne and Wallace failed to maintain speed under caution, and sent them back in the pack. The resulting loss of track position proved too much for the youngsters to overcome while taking two top contenders out of the mix for a win (don’t forget Bayne was the quickest car on the track over the final 25 laps).

With Edwards finally managing to get the best of Busch, Rowdy’s lead in the point standings dropped to 192. Keselowski lost more ground with his fourth place run (he’s now 392 markers out), as did Jason Leffler (finished eighth, 506 points behind).

Worth Noting

The Good

While the aforementioned incident regarding the pace car kept both Bayne and Steve Wallace from contending for the win late, both of these drivers were convincing in their performances Saturday night. Bayne led the first 34 laps from the pole, having to avoid a wreck even on the first lap when Brad Coleman pushed up the track challenging for the lead in the first corner of the race. And even after being highly frustrated when he was relegated to 17th in the running order after being hit under yellow by Wallace, the MWR development prospect didn’t lose his cool, instead putting his nose to the grindstone and bringing home a solid seventh place finish that was a career-best. As for Wallace, his many detractors are going to cite his hitting Bayne under yellow as evidence that he’s still in over his head. Yeah, right… that incident was solely on the officials and the pace car driver. Anyone that saw Wallace’s drive back into the top five and the way he handled himself in racing aggressively and cleanly with Kenseth and Keselowski late needs to have their head examined if they couldn’t see just how far the youngest Wallace has come since his ugly rookie season a few years back.

Scott Wimmer finally had the type of run he’s been seeking to have in his limited starts with JR Motorsports. Wimmer quietly moved towards the top 10 from the drop of the green flag, but definitely raised some eyebrows on lap 54 with a daring pass of Hornaday for the lead on the treacherous low side of the track. In the end, Wimmer led 39 laps and brought the No. 5 car home ninth, the type of run that the Wisconsin-native needs to keep his name on big-time NASCAR’s radar screen.

And how about another top 15 finish for Tony Raines? Why exactly didn’t he get a shout out on TV? Same goes for Morgan Shepherd’s 17th place finish.

The Bad

Erik Darnell qualified fourth coming off a stellar run at Gateway, and was running in the top 10 early in the going before making contact with Brendan Gaughan on the backstretch. The resulting contact, while minor, was enough to cave in the left front fender on his No. 6 Ford, eventually leading to at least one blown tire (Darnell also got loose and hit the wall in turn 2 later in the evening, though the camera angles were inconclusive as to whether a blown tire was responsible). Regardless of the cause, a 29th place finish was perhaps the lowest point of what has been an impressive rookie NNS campaign for the former Truck Series regular.

Rensi-Hamilton Racing didn’t have a terrible day, but their visit to ORP wasn’t what they were hoping for, either. After qualifying near the back of the pack, Eric McClure was mired in traffic from lap 1, turning in a 23rd place effort that was two laps off the pace and one that garnered no air-time for the No. 24 car. Even more disappointing was Bobby Hamilton, Jr.’s return behind the wheel of the same No. 25 car that he nearly won the 2003 NNS title in. Carrying the same Eckrich sponsorship that saved the Rensi Racing operation in 2008, Hamilton was never a factor in Saturday’s race, finishing with a whimper in 22nd position. There is a chance that the same sponsor could kick in to put Hamilton behind the wheel for a few more races this year, but 22nd place finishes aren’t going to get the former NNS regular the full-time ride he deserves (say, doesn’t CJM Racing have an opening?)

The Ugly

Speaking of CJM Racing, what the hell is wrong with this team? Firing Scott Lagasse, Jr.? For what? (Read more on that topic in this week’s upcoming Nuts for Nationwide feature.) That said, Lagasse was in position to make some serious noise at ORP, qualifying inside the top 10 and motivated to perform and land himself another NNS ride. That top 10 run lasted all of 21 laps, when Keselowski made contact with the left rear bumper of the No. 11 entering turn one. The hit slammed Lagasse into the wall and smack into Mike Bliss’s path, who struck the driver’s side of Lagasse’s machine and crippled his own No. 1 car. Lagasse was left with a 37th place finish and no progress made on finding a new ride for himself.

The other team that had an ugly trip to ORP was nowhere to be seen on race day… because both of their cars missed the race. Brian Keselowski and his No. 26 team suffered their costliest DNQ of the season at a track where the elder Keselowski has scored a top 15 finish before, missing the race while only seven points out of the top 30 and a locked-in spot in the field. Dennis Setzer also failed to qualify the team’s No. 96 car, surprising seeing as how Setzer nearly won the truck race at ORP the night before.

And Terry Cook parked the third-place car after only 11 laps. Tell me again how this isn’t a problem for the sport?

Underdog Performer of the Race: Aric Almirola. Though Wimmer is the primary driver of the Key Motorsports No. 40 car, Wimmer is out of the seat from time to time to take a ride in the JR Motorsports No. 5 entry. And while Wimmer had an impressive run Saturday night, his relief driver, Almirola, gave him a run for his money. Still seeking a new ride to call his full-time home after losing the No. 8 Cup car due to a lack of sponsor dollars, Almirola took advantage of his opportunities Saturday night. After a solid top 10 showing in the Truck race, the former Drive for Diversity graduate delivered a 14th place finish on the lead lap in the No. 40, the third consecutive top 15 finish for a team that found itself outside the top 30 for much of the spring. Almirola remarked in his post-race interview after the Truck race Friday that he was gunning to make the most of whatever rides he was able to get this year… Saturday was proof positive.

The Final Word

No remarks on how the NNS title chase is already over, that Cup drivers are dominating even the “opportunity races,” etc.

The Kroger 200 was freaking awesome.

Side-by-side racing never ceased (three and even four-wide racing on a 0.686-mile oval). Enough beating and banging for even a demolition derby fan. Trading paint for position (Keselowski and Hornaday had a number of altercations on the track that never boiled over, but were really fun to watch). A crowd that was vocal, energetic, and on their feet all night long. And a racetrack that saw 43 drivers taking 43 unique lines around it. It truly was short-track racing at its finest, and a truly energetic showing for a series that has been desperately looking for something to spark it after a number of lackluster shows at Chicago and Gateway.

And it was proof positive that short-track racing is both what the fans want and what NASCAR needs. The bleachers weren’t full at ORP, but proportionally were surprisingly crowded for a standalone Nationwide event. And I’d bet there wasn’t a fan there who left feeling they didn’t get their money’s worth. The racing seen at ORP put even Friday’s truck race (which was a thriller) to shame, doing more credence than any amount of historic recollecting, testing, etc. could do to prove that short tracks are where stock cars need to be racing. I don’t need to say much of anything…the product on the track Saturday night did all the talking necessary.

And what better way to follow up a short-track with race than with another short-track? Bring on Iowa!

Running his first Nationwide Series race since an incident that saw him knock Busch from the lead at Dover with two laps to go, Joey Logano beat his teammate without the chrome horn on Saturday…and took the checkers for his trouble.

On a late restart on lap 189, Logano engineered the best restart anyone not driving the No. 18 car had all night, lining up directly on Busch’s bumper and capitalizing, taking the lead on lap 191 when Rowdy got loose in turn 2 and moved up the race track. From there, Logano drove off into the sunset, scoring his second Nationwide Series victory of the season and second consecutive at Kentucky Speedway on the anniversary weekend of his first major NASCAR victory one year ago.

Running his first Nationwide Series race since an incident that saw him knock Busch from the lead at Dover with two laps to go, Joey Logano beat his teammate without the chrome horn on Saturday… and took the checkers for his trouble.

On a late restart on lap 189, Logano engineered the best restart anyone not driving the No. 18 car had all night, lining up directly on Busch’s bumper and capitalizing on his opportunity. Putting the pressure on as soon as the yellow flag ended, the 19-year-old wound up taking the lead on lap 191 when Rowdy got loose in turn 2 and moved up the race track. From there, Logano drove off into the sunset, scoring his second Nationwide Series victory of the season and second consecutive at Kentucky Speedway on the anniversary weekend of his first major NASCAR victory one year ago.

Though falling short of Victory Lane, Busch made major strides in the title chase with his second place performance. Carl Edwards, for the second consecutive season, struggled mightily to get a hold of the Kentucky oval, throwing major adjustments at his car on every pit stop to no avail. Edwards’ 20th place finish allowed Busch to extend his point lead to 137 over his fellow Cup competitor. Brad Keselowski, on the heels of another strong third-place showing in his No. 88 car, moved to third in the points ahead of Jason Leffler and now sits 208 markers back (Leffler finished sixth on Saturday and is 218 points behind).

Edwards’ struggles were also accentuated by two speeding penalties, two of over 20 handed out by NASCAR throughout Saturday’s race as pit cycles were seeing a consistent half-dozen or more drivers penalized each. Edwards was outspoken following the event that NASCAR was in error regarding their handling of pit road speeds on exit, where the vast majority of the penalties were assessed.

The race, which featured side-by-side action for much of its 300 miles, was again extremely well-attended: While not an announced sellout, the crowd was estimated at 70,000, an estimate that did not appear exaggerated from the TV shots seen Saturday night.

Worth Noting

The Good

Logano may have gotten the best of Busch at race’s end, but it was absolutely mesmerizing to see the charge that Justin Allgaier made on Busch following a lap 28 restart. Using the high side of the track and forcing Busch to run on the track’s bumpy inner lane through turns 1 and 2, the Penske Racing rookie raced side-by-side with one of NASCAR’s best for over ten laps for the lead, leading five of those circuits and all the while proving that, at least in the short run, his Dodge had something for the Nationwide Series’ fastest race car. Allgaier’s aggression continued even after Busch eventually got away, as he battled hard all night with Keselowski and other heavy hitters en route to finishing fifth, his third top five of the year. Allgaier’s relentlessness and near impossibility to pass on the track both frustrated the living daylights out of Keselowski and made this writer think an awful lot about how much he looked like one of Penske Racing’s past protégés… Ryan Newman. More performances like these are going to turn the heat up on David Stremme in the near future.

Kelly Bires also deserves a shout-out for his rebound performance in the No. 33. After wrecking his primary car in qualifying, Bires started 42nd…but ended up finishing tenth after a steady charge through the field. Here’s hoping he lands a full-time ride soon… it’s a shame to see this kind of talent running Phil Parsons’ start-and-park cars most weekends.

Also, Brendan Gaughan’s top five run with interim crew chief Shane Huffman on the pit box was fun to watch following the suspension of regular head wrench Bryan Berry at Nashville.

The Bad

Already reeling from the Detroit Red Wings’ loss in the Stanley Cup finals, the Keselowski brothers both fell well short of what they were shooting for as they tackled the Kentucky Speedway. Yes, Brad Keselowski finished third, but found himself battling traffic instead of the leaders all race long thanks to a pit road speeding penalty on lap 71 and numerous pit stops that lost the No. 88 car track position. Though he had a car that each and every time charged back into the top five, Keselowski never had position to challenge Busch and Logano and lost ground yet again in the point race. As for brother Brian Keselowski, his troubles started with a wreck in practice Friday. The No. 26 team had no backup, and ended up having to rent a car from team owner Randy MacDonald just to start Saturday’s race. Brian ended up completing only 38 laps before parking his rented ride, a performance that resulted in the No. 26 team falling out of the top 30 in owner points. With two wrecked cars at their shop needing to be rebuilt, including the car they hoped to run at Milwaukee, qualifying on time next weekend is not what this team needs on its plate right now.

Also, Stephen Leicht’s return to the track he won at two years ago did not unfold like a storybook. An early spin that damaged the cars’ right front fender and later overheating issues led Leicht to complete only 137 laps and finish a disappointing 31st. The No. 29 team for RCR is not performing at the level it has been accustomed to the past few seasons, and that does not bode well for the youngster still trying to find a sponsor and a second chance at full-time Nationwide competition.

The Ugly

Rick Ware Racing’s most publicized moment this season came during a qualifying session, when Jeffrey Earnhardt failed to qualify at Dover following a hard wreck in practice. This Saturday, qualifying is again where they made headlines… and none of them were pretty. Travis Kittleson failed to get the team’s primary No. 31 entry into the field (Justin Hobgood did qualify the team’s start-and-park No. 41). More notable, though, was Stanton Barrett’s late No. 79 entry with the team. Barrett, who had to race his way in, did just that on the first lap and locked himself into the field. However, his team did not relay that to Barrett, who assumed that he had to make a second lap to secure a starting spot. On the exit of turn 4 on that second lap, Barrett got loose and pounded the wall, causing heavy damage to his car. With the Ware team fielding three cars, there were no backups available for Barrett, who instead had to make patchwork repairs to his car and even missed the drivers’ meeting to ensure that the No. 79 could start. Barrett completed only one lap and finished 43rd, with Hobgood running one more lap before parking. To summarize: three cars, a combined three laps completed, a DNQ, and a wrecked machine for a team that has found itself in over its head for much of this year.

Underdog Performer of the Race: Mark Green. Owensboro, Kentucky is the home of racing’s three Green brothers. David and Jeff are the most successful, as both have Nationwide (then Busch) Series titles to their credit. Yet it was brother Mark that made all the noise Saturday night. While David Green was coaching John Wes Townley, watching his former ride in the No. 07 being limped around by Mike Harmon, and Jeff Green failed to qualify the No. 91 car, Mark took full advantage of having a sponsor on-board his No. 0… and a chance to finally run the distance with JD Motorsports. With American Patriot Getaways on his hood and the hometown crowd before him, Green went from green to checkers, completing 197 of the 200 laps run and scoring a 19th place finish, the best run of the year for the No. 0. With Danny O’Quinn also finishing in the top 20, it was the first time since Daytona that JD Motorsports had two cars running at the end of the race.

The Final Word

First and foremost, a round of applause to the Kentucky Speedway crowd that again showed up in droves, and witnessed one of the better Nationwide Series races run in 2009. And while the track apparently needs to look at their methods of calculating pit road exit speeds, one thing that officials need to ignore completely is the complaining from a variety of drivers regarding how bumpy the track surface has gotten.

Rusty Wallace mentioned during ESPN’s coverage of qualifying that the track had taken on characteristics similar to the old Lowe’s Motor Speedway, with the bumps and dives present all over the track. There wasn’t a driver out there who debated whether or not the facility had drastically changed over this offseason… but there was also no debate that the action seen at Kentucky was among the best NASCAR has seen this year on an intermediate oval configuration. Side-by-side action was aplenty, and the bumps present in the low groove of turn 1 and 2 made the high line a very viable option, as Allgaier and Gaughan both proved.

Between the new fan facilities at the entrance to the track and the planned expansions to the grandstands, Bruton Smith is leaving his mark on his newest-acquired facility. Please, Bruton, do us all a favor and don’t do to this surface what was done to Lowe’s. There’s nothing wrong with a track having some character…just look at Daytona.

As for the race itself, Logano emerged the winner, but as has been the story of the season, Busch was the class of the field. Busch didn’t get the win he wanted, but he did enjoy a stellar points night. Saturday’s race did well to present a true microcosm of the points race as we near the midpoint of 2009, with Busch the clear favorite.

Edwards – the No. 60 team is missing something, and until they find it, they’re going to stay out of the win column, and out of the 2009 hunt.

Brad Keselowski – The cars are there and the driver is hungry, but the team’s continued struggles on pit road and inability to get going early on restarts is going to make track position all the more a commodity for Keselowski — and all the more difficult for the team’s equipment to mount a challenge to the JGR Toyotas.

Leffler – There is no team working harder in the garage and no team getting more out of their stuff… but the No. 38 team is still Braun Racing versus Cup giants Gibbs, Hendrick and Roush.

Perhaps most important, though, was what Allgaier demonstrated to the entire Nationwide field: taking it to Busch is possible. Allgaier’s furious 10 lap battle with Busch early in the going of Saturday’s race was by far the highlight of the event, and some of the best side-by-side racing seen in any form of NASCAR racing in 2009. With much of the motorsports’ media coddling Busch as God’s gift to racing and JGR’s Toyotas continually running ramrod over the Nationwide Series field, it was refreshing for fans to see one of the Series’ up and comers mount a serious challenge to Busch. It has to be hard for teams out there to know the road to Victory Lane goes past perhaps the most powerful cars the Nationwide ranks have ever seen, and that makes examples such as Allgaier’s willingness to charge after them all the more important for competitors and their fans to see.

Here’s hoping that aggressive mentality prevails at Milwaukee… a track that’s no stranger to the chrome horn.